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eBook publishing has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for independent authors. Gone are the days where you need to have an agent and a connection to a major publishing house to create, distribute and market your book. Instead, you can publish your very own business ebook and sell your eBooks online.
Sell Your eBooks Online
With today’s digital technology, you can easily sell your written work online using several different online platforms.
These platforms have been developed to remove the complexities of traditional publishing with a wide range of tools and options for publishing your business ebook. Depending on the service provider, you can access everything from publishing and design to marketing and sales, as well as insights and tutorials on how to publish an eBook. And you can make this happen without a huge investment.
Places to Publish Your Business eBook
So for all of you great business minds who want to share your knowledge with the world, check out these platforms to publish your business eBook on.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
As one of the largest online sources for eBooks, Amazon has a large self-publishing arm with Kindle Direct Publishing. The platform allows you to publish your business eBook on the Amazon Kindle Store, which makes them available on Kindle devices and Kindle apps for iOS, Android and more. Self-publishing is free and you can earn up to 70 percent royalties on sales.
NOOK Press
Barnes and Noble also offers no-cost self-publishing to its NOOK e-readers and BarnesAndNoble.com with NOOK Press. The platform allows you to control the price of your book, which impacts your royalty rate.
iBooks Author
If you have a Mac computer you can download the free iBooks Author app and create your book using Apple’s library of templates and other design tools. You can then publish your business eBook and offer it for purchase or free download in the iBooks store.
Google Play
To make your titles available on Android devices and Google Books, there’s the Google Play Books Partner Center. The platform allows you to upload your content, set your own prices and sell to customers around the world.
Lulu
Lulu is a platform that lets you create and publish eBooks for a variety of different platforms and stores. You can create and format your own eBook for free, or hire Lulu to edit, proofread and design. You can then publish the book on Lulu’s site, but also convert it into a file that you can make available on all ereaders and tablets.
Blurb
Blurb allows you to upload your eBook from Bookwright or Adobe InDesign and it will convert it to a fixed-layout eBook for $9.99. You can also convert your manuscript to a reflowable eBook from a text document. That service is free while in beta. You can then make them available on popular platforms like Apple and Amazon.
Smashwords
Smashwords allows you to publish your eBook to a variety of sources, including the Smashwords store, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Scribd. You can earn 85 percent on sales at Smashwords.com and 60 percent of list price on sales from the rest.
Kobo Writing Life
Kobo Writing Life prides itself on being easy to use. You start by adding details and uploading your manuscript, which it will automatically convert to an ePub file. Then you set your price and track sales directly on the website. Your title will then be available on the Kobo Ebookstore, which is a worldwide provider of eBooks.
Myebook
With a publishing platform and plans that work for single book authors and multi-publication distributors, Myebook can help you create and distribute your eBook to multiple popular platforms. You can self-publish or use one of Myebook’s paid full-service offerings.
BookBaby
BookBaby is unique among self-publishing services in that it doesn’t take any percentage of your sales. It does offer a number of paid services including design, formatting and distribution. And you can use the platform to reach a number of popular stores like iBooks and Amazon.
Shopify
The popular eCommerce solution allows you to easily sell and manage orders for your eBooks. Some of the Shopify features include professionally designed store templates, order processing and analytics. Pricing starts at $29 per month, and goes up depending on features.
Payhip
Payhip’s offers a simple platform for hosting your eBook and allowing your customers to buy it directly from you. Payhip processes payments using Paypal and Stripe, and delivers your eBook to customers directly, taking 5 percent of each transaction.
eBookIt
eBookIt is intended specifically for independent authors and small press outlets. The site offers eBook conversion, distribution and promotion starting at a $199 one-time fee. And the company works with distribution partners like Amazon, Google and Barnes & Noble.
Scribd
Scribd is a membership program that offers unlimited books to its members for a flat monthly fee. The company pulls titles from a handful of publishing service providers, so you need to sign up with one to get your eBook available to subscribers.
Wasteland Press
Wasteland Press is a self-publishing company that can help you get your eBook formatted and available on the most popular eBook devices, including Kindle, Nook and Apple products. There are a few different plans for the various marketplaces. But to get your eBook listed on all of them, Wasteland Press charges a fee of up to $500.
E-junkie
E-junkie charges a monthly subscription fee to sell your eBooks online, instead of taking a percentage of sales or charging fees up front. Cost depends on the number of titles you have and the amount of storage needed. The company also offers PDF stamping for security.
Selz
Selz has a free account which lets you access analytics tool, widgets, and fraud protection along with up to five listings. You can upload your ebook onto the Selz platform and create a store to sell them there. If you want to move up to the paid membership, it starts at $12.99 with unlimited listing and customization options for your page.
Gumroad
If you want flexibility on how you can set up your online shop, Gumroad has multiple options. With a monthly membership of $10 and a 3.5% on each sale, you can fully customize your page to sell your eBooks. This includes creating memberships, subscriptions, discount promotions and direct sales.
Tradebit
Tradebit allows you to quickly upload your eBook or other digital download to make available on your homepage or storefront. For sales made on your own site, Tradebit takes 25-30 percent, and more for sales in its own marketplace.
Infinity Publishing
This platform’s Author Store offers a variety of different products and services for authors ranging from full book printing to eBook conversion. Infinity Publishing also works with distribution channels like Amazon and Barnes & Noble to get your eBook in front of buyers.
PayLoadz
This digital delivery system works for eBooks and a variety of other digital products. PayLoadz allows you to upload your file, set your own price, and add the button or link for your product to your website or other online accounts.
Slicebooks
Not your typical eBook marketplace, Slicebooks offers a platform for you to essentially sell sections of your eBooks or other content. So if your business books have some helpful chapters or snippets, you can use this platform to repurpose and sell just those parts for people who may not be interested in an entire eBook. Pricing starts at $9 per month.
Click2Sell
Click2Sell is an affiliate marketing network that offers secure servers for storing your eBooks and a checkout options to help your buyers complete their purchases. You can offer your eBook on the Click2Sell marketplace and even recruit affiliates to promote your titles online.
LifeRich Publishing
From Reader’s Digest, LifeRich Publishing is more of a full-service book publishing solution. But they also offer electronic formats, with pricing based on the various services you require.
iUniverse
iUniverse offers a range of services to help you create and sell your books in physical, electronic and audio formats. The company offers everything from design help and editing to marketing your book. So prices vary based on the services you select.
InstantPublisher.com
While this site mainly focuses on publishing hard copy books, it also has options for eBook publishing. InstantPublisher charges a base price of $159.99 for converting your eBook and assigning it an ISBN. Then it offers a $50 yearly fee or 10 percent of your royalties to list your eBook on Amazon and iTunes.
eBookPartnership
eBookPartnership is an online service that helps authors convert their books into ebook files and distribute them widely on a global scale. The company also works with independent publishers in need of assistance with ebook conversion.
Pressbooks
Pressbooks is a tool aimed at helping independent authors create professional looking editions of both print and digital books. You can then use it to connect to a variety of popular publishing platforms for distribution.
Draft2Digital
A publishing support platform, Draft2Digital allows you to upload your written content and easily transform it into an ebook file. They also offer help with distribution and don’t charge any fees upfront.
eBook Photo via Shutterstock
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Aira Bongco
For me, the easiest is CreateSpace. I love how it integrates with Amazon and have your book listed in no time. The other places are good for selling though.
Linda Aragoni
LeanPub.com another option. It allows readers to see a work in progress as well as the completed book. It’s heavily used by people in technology fields. (Disclosure: I used it for an education book I wrote.)
Annie: Which is your favorite place for self-publishing books, both hardcover and ebook?
Nee
Thanks for the list. I wonder which one has more support to writers in terms of copyright protection. I came across a blog comment that her ebook on Kindle was plagiarized but Amazon will not take part in the dispute settling, although they are getting 30% of the sales.
I guess ebooks and podcasts are getting more and more popular and in near future, will be getting bigger. These sites will play good role hence. I think writing and publishing on Amazon and Apple would be huge.
Awogor Matthew
Since I have been looking for an opportunity like this. Thanks for all. I will head up and give all of them a trial. Thanks
After each book we write my wife and I always go through this process – where are we going to sell it. We have had success with our books in the KDP Select program that allows Amazon Unlimited subscribers free access to your book. The author gets paid based on pages read and total amount in the Unlimited “fund”.
Not sure it is a great move to go with that program as you can not have your book for sale anywhere else. I think with our next book we will use a few off this list and see how it goes.
Thanks for putting this resource together.
Thanks for the topic. I think that now in 2019 many vendors stopped working
Robin McGill
I really like the list. It apoears to be very helpful. I also appreciate the conments from other writers. I look forward to finding the most suitable site for my book. The best to all in their writing and publishing endeavors!
Can you publish a book in different places? Or do they get a kind of ownership over the book?
mejore comentarios
I really like this list, this is really wonderful, Thank you for this.
Loved this and every other article here in smallbiztrends. Great website!
Thanks for sharing nice article, Its very helpful for me.
I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well. Thanks for sharing this information.
Ali
Great Article Thanks for this
Great! I loved your site. I have bookmarked it.
Nisha
Thanks for sharing the article its help me alot
Good Articles Thanks for recommendations
Ashley Cheah
Another great option for ebooks and self-publishing is A&A Printing!
Here’s their website: https://www.printshopcentral.com/
Mike Ssendikwanawa
Thanks for this wonderful List, will give them a try inorder to reach out to more readers!
Mike Ssendikwanawa
Thanks Annie, for this wonderful ebook publishing list.
Hope to have a great journey with several of these platforms.
Thanks for the list. I wonder which one has more support to writers in terms of copyright protection. I came across a blog comment that her ebook on Kindle was plagiarized but Amazon will not take part in the dispute settling, although they are getting 30% of the sales.
PdfnBooks also publishes ebooks for free.
very good article, I have many articles but still confused where to publish my articles, with this tutorial I can have many choices
Jhonathan
For me, the easiest is CreateSpace. I love how it integrates with Amazon and have your book listed in no time. The other places are good for selling though.